His Favorite Christmas Story
by nate23hales
Summary: Every year Nathan told Jamie the same story of his favorite Christmas memory. It happened to be the one that brought back his belief in feeling joy on the holidays and finally feeling the way he always wanted to.


**His Favorite Christmas Story**

"All right, Jamie, one more shot and then it's time for bed." Nathan Scott shouted to his son from the backdoor. He watched as Jamie dribbled his small basketball and shot it in his plastic basketball hoop. There was so much pride in his heart at the sight of his six-year-old son playing the game that he had always loved. Jamie had taken Nathan's interest and was blessed with the natural born talent that he possessed.

The blond little boy hung his head low as he walked inside the large house. All Jamie ever wanted to do was spend hours in their backyard shooting in his toddler sized toy hoop.

Nathan held the door open for him as his small bare feet hit the wooden floor. He wore his favorite blue pajamas with cartoon rocket ships patterned all over them. Jamie stopped and looked up to his father with his pleading innocent eyes and pouty look on his face. It was the expression that reminded him of his mother.

"I know you don't want to go to sleep, but you're going to have to." Nathan crossed his arms across his chest. "Santa's not going to come if you stay up playing basketball all night."

At the mention of Santa, Jamie instantly lit up. "Do you think he's going to bring me a real ball and real basketball hoop, Daddy?" He sent his father a bright cheesy smile that showed all of his tiny teeth.

Nathan let out a chuckle. "I don't know, Buddy. Were you good all year?"

Jamie nodded affirmatively. "Aunt Brooke said I was the best little boy in the whole world!"

Nathan ruffled his son's soft hair. Then he picked him up into his arms. "I bet she did. Now, how about we head upstairs and get some sleep?"

Jamie frowned again and tired to hide his big yawn from his father. "I guess so."

Nathan held Jamie close to him as he walked through the kitchen and the family room. He walked up the wooden staircase up to Jamie's room. Like his pajamas, the walls and bedspread were blue. That was another thing that Nathan had in common with his son. Blue was his favorite color and it was the color of his childhood room.

He gently set Jamie down on his bed and pulled the thick comforter over the small boy.

"Goodnight, son." Nathan planted a kiss in Jamie's hair.

"Daddy, you forgot something!" Jamie called to him as Nathan went to turn off Jamie's light and leave the room.

"I did?" Nathan asked playfully. He leaned in the doorway and rested his hand on his chin. "What could I have possibly forgotten?"

"The story! You always tell me about your favorite memory of Christmas!"

Of course, Nathan remembered which story Jamie was talking about. It was one that Nathan never wanted to forget. He was sure that in a few years Jamie could recite it all on his own. "Oh, aren't you getting tired of that old story?"

Jamie quickly shook his head and smiled up at Nathan again. "I won't be able to fall asleep until you tell me the story and I don't want Santa to skip our house."

Nathan let out a fake sigh and walked over to the other side of his son's bed. He sat down next to Jamie on top of the cover. Jamie crawled over to get closer to Nathan, who welcomed Jamie by wrapping one arm around him.

"You all set?" Nathan leaned over and fixed Jamie's blanket so his son was comfortable. Then he leaned back on one of Jamie's extra pillows to relax himself. He looked down when he felt the little boy rest his head into his side.

"Ready, Daddy."

"Christmas is a big time for joy, especially to the residents of Tree Hill. When I was about your age, and every year after that, my parents would take me to downtown Tree Hill for the Christmas Eve festival. I loved going down to see the boardwalk and the pier decorated with lights. Even some of the boats were covered in Christmas lights as they glided over the water. There would be a firework show right above our heads and I would watch them as I stood on the dock's railing. Then right after, we would go to a small café and my mom would order me the best hot chocolate I have ever had. It was one of the times where I felt like we were really a family.

"As I got older, the whole Christmas spirit thing wasn't really a big deal to me anymore. That was until I was around eighteen…

_Nathan stepped out of his black SUV and walked over to meet a few his friends. They decided to go as a group down to the boardwalk to hang out for the holiday festival. Nathan only went because he was tired of hearing his parents argue. The festival often reminded him of the time they spent together and were actually happy to be around each other. Now, he was using that happy memory as an escape. Too bad, the festival only came once a year. _

_He instantly heard a raspy voice shout his name. The voice belonged to his best friend, Lucas', girlfriend, Brooke Davis. Her brunette hair was styled in wavy curls. She wore a fitted black pea coat with a red scarf. _

"_Hey, Brooke." Nathan responded as he joined the group. _

_Lucas shared a quick friendly hug with Nathan and then leaned against his own car with his arms wrapped around Brooke's waist. "She was getting impatient with you. Thanks for showing up."_

_Nathan looked down to his feet. "It was a bit of a hassle getting out of the house. My parents were having their annual holiday fighting match."_

_Brooke wriggled out of Lucas' embrace and gave Nathan a tight hug. "I'm sorry about all that, Nathan." A dimpled smile formed on her face when she pulled away from him._

"_So, are we heading downtown or what?" Her cheery attitude instantly returned. She turned to Lucas with a pleading smile. _

_Lucas stood up from leaning on the side of his car and interlocked his fingers with the delicate ones of Brooke's. Their arms swung back and forth as they began to walk. _

_Nathan watched the happy couple before him. There were times when he was with Lucas and Brooke that he wished he had a relationship like theirs. Around the holidays he could spend a chilly night like this with his girlfriend wrapped up in his arms as they watched the fireworks. The colored lights from the explosions would light up the sky and reveal the softness of her face. _

_He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see his other friends, Skills, Mouth, Junk, and Fergie. Skills also had a girlfriend, which he guessed he would be meeting up with later. "You okay, man?"_

_Nathan nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. We should get going before Brooke notices that we aren't following them."_

_They walked off in the same direction as the young couple. Streetlights lit up their path. Along the street, cars were parked and the road was barricaded off so the people could gather in the street. Children were laughing and running around while their parents were trying to make their way to the boardwalk to find a spot for the firework show. _

_Lucas stopped in front of the store with a wreath in the window. "Hey, I told my mom I would stop in a see her before we head off to the pier. Do you guys want to stop in for coffee or something?"_

"_Hot chocolate sounds pretty good to me, Boyfriend." Brooke told him sweetly. _

"_Nah, we good. We'll try and get us a good view. Well, they will because I told Bevin that I would watch with her and meet her parents and younger brother." Skills told them. _

"_That's fine. We'll catch you around later, Skills." Lucas told him._

"_And say hi to Bevin for me!" Brooke added. _

"_Not a problem, B. Davis. Junk, Fergie, Mouth, let's roll out!" Skills motioned for them to follow him through the sea of people._

"_I guess that means I'm coming with you guys." Nathan stuffed his hands in the pockets of his jacket. He felt bad for not wanting to be around Brooke and Lucas because they were both his closet friends. It was just different for him ever since they decided to start a relationship with each other. Nathan felt like he was intruding on their time together. _

_Lucas held the door open as Brooke walked inside. He also held it for Nathan. The small café was a bit busy with people who didn't want to be bothered with the cold weather or were elderly and wanted to enjoy the night with relaxation. _

"_There's my boy." A woman with short brown hair greeted them. She gave Lucas a tight hug. "It's nice to see that you haven't forgotten about me." She joked before giving Brooke the same hug. "Brooke you're as pretty as always."_

"_Thanks, Karen." Brooke snuggled into Lucas side as she wrapped her arms around his torso. _

_Karen smiled at the sight of her son and his girlfriend. She turned her head to search for a table for them. "I think that table is open over in the corner by the window. If you could check and see if it's dirty, then I can tell Haley to wipe it down for you."_

"_You have Haley working tonight?" Brooke asked her. _

"_She insisted that she was going to help out tonight since it was going to be a mad house after the firework display. I told her that she was free to go and enjoy the night, but she didn't feel right leaving me here to serve everyone." Karen explained. _

"_That's Hales for you; always helping out others and not backing down." Lucas said. Lucas led Brooke over to the table._

"_Bless her heart." She said with a small smile. "Nathan, I didn't even see you standing back there." Karen walked over to Nathan and gave him a hug. "How's your mom?"_

"_She's doing good." Nathan told her with a sigh knowing that was far from the truth. _

"_I'm glad to hear it." She turned back over to Lucas, who returned to them without Brooke attached to his side. _

"_Why don't you and Luke head over to the table? Haley will be over there shortly."_

"_Thanks, Ma." Lucas gave his mother another hug and a quick kiss on the cheek. Lucas put his hand on Nathan's shoulder. "Are you sure you're all right?"_

_Nathan nodded again. "Lucas, I'm fine." He said with determination before following Lucas over to where Brooke was seated. _

"_Tonight is going to be amazing," Brooke said excitedly as Lucas slid into the booth beside her. She rested her head on Lucas' shoulder briefly. She kissed him on the cheek and giggled while she wiped her lip gloss away that was left on his skin. _

_Nathan sat across from the couple. His eyes shifted to the wooden pattern on the table as Lucas pulled Brooke in for a full loving kiss. Nathan often felt awkward around them whenever they would kiss or make out. He just wanted to disappear so he didn't have to see them. It wasn't because he couldn't stand it. It was just that he wanted to be like they were. He truly was happy that his friends stopped tiptoeing around their obvious feeling for each other. That drove Nathan insane whenever they would talk about each other when the other wasn't around. _

_He looked up when he saw a wet rag being placed on the table. A young girl with blond hair and large brown eyes was cleaning off the table. Her lips were plump with a pale pink gloss. Nathan watched as she smiled as she greeted Brooke. As her lips moved to form it, it felt like time began to slow. Nathan remembered seeing her around school, but he never once spoke to her, which was odd because she and Brooke seemed to know each other pretty well. _

"_Haley, you should really join us for the show tonight." Brooke told her._

"_I already promised Karen that I would help her tonight." She said apologetically. _

"_You could help her out afterwards?" Brooke tried offering Haley a way out so she could spend time with them. "What do you say?"_

"_Sorry, Tigger." _

_Brooke pouted. "You could at least join us for coffee and hot chocolate then. If you say no, I'm going to force Karen to make you." She playfully warned._

"_I'd do it, Hales. Brooke's not kidding." Lucas told her._

_Haley contemplated the offer. Then she looked to see a raven-haired boy sitting with them. He didn't look too happy to be there. It was Christmas and one of the nights that people in Tree Hill always waited for each year. _

"_Oh, okay, Davis." She held up a finger to stop Brooke from letting out her cheerful squeal, "but only for one cup. It's getting dark out and I don't want to keep you from the fireworks." _

"_Fine by me just sit your fine ass down!" Brooke clapped her hands as Haley walked away to throw her rag in the sink._

_Nathan felt his body heat up while Brooke was trying to talk Haley into hanging out with them tonight. In a few moments Haley was going to be sitting next to him. Nathan was taller than Haley was and took up a significant amount of space in the booth. There was no doubt that their arms or legs were going to brush against each other's tonight. _

"_Nathan, do you know Haley at all?" Brooke suddenly asked him._

"_Not really. I've seen her talking to you and that's about it. How do you know her?"_

"_She's that super smart girl that I told you about in my calculus class. Our teacher paired us up for tutoring because I was failing the class. It turns out that we got along really well. I had no idea that she worked her until I mentioned to Lucas to her." _

"_I still think that you should have came to me. I could have helped you study." Lucas spoke up._

"_Babe, we both know that the last thing we would be doing is studying, not that I'm complaining." _

_All Nathan wanted to do was roll his eyes. He didn't need to hear that his two best friends were having sex. _

"_Four hot chocolates," Haley set them down on the table when she returned. She hoped that she wasn't interrupting anything important. Hesitantly, she sat down next to Nathan. _

_Nathan could feel how tense Haley was when she sat down next to him. He couldn't blame her because he found himself feeling that way, too. Girls didn't have any special affect on him, but for some reason Haley was. He took a silent breath to try and calm himself down. When he inhaled he couldn't help but catch the scent of vanilla that was coming from the girl next to him. _

"_We were just talking about you. This is my other best friend that I was talking to you about during tutoring." Brooke told Haley as she motioned her hand over to Nathan._

_Haley smiled. "It's nice to meet you, Nathan."_

"_You, too. Brooke really does talk a lot." He joked out of nervousness._

_Haley let out a shy giggle. "Yeah, she does."_

"_I'm not even going to take offense to that because I know it's true." Brooke added before sipping from her cup. _

_The group laughed at the comment and then continued when Brooke lifted the cup away from her face. Some of the froth from her drink formed a chocolate mustache above her lip. _

_Brooke looked around at her friends. "What? Tutor Girl, did you do something to my drink?"_

_Lucas shook his head. "She didn't do anything, Pretty Girl. You got," Lucas motioned to his own lip, where her hot beverage cooled against her skin. He smiled when he saw Brooke's reaction. _

"_Well, that was embarrassing." Brooke said as she wiped over her mouth with a napkin. "If that happens again, you can just kiss me, okay?" _

"_Noted." Lucas took a sip from his cup. "Am I all clear?" He asked Nathan as a joke._

"_You're all good man." Nathan answered._

"_Thanks, if you see anything then you could just kiss me." He leaned back into the booth and laughed loudly with Nathan as he wrapped his arm around Brooke's heck and pulled to him. Lucas planted a kiss in her hair._

_After the laughter died, Nathan looked over to Haley. Her pink lips still held her bright smile. He could the crease that formed her small dimple in her cheek. The café lights illuminated her hair and casted a shadow on her face. She probably thought that they were an odd group. _

_Brooke cleared her throat. "I think I'm going to go with Lucas and go look for the guys."_

_Lucas raised his eyebrow towards his girlfriend, who gently elbowed him. "Yeah, I think the fireworks are going to start soon anyway. I'll text you when I find them, okay?"_

"_Um, sure." Nathan answered with confusion. _

_Lucas slid out from the booth and then helped Brooke to her feet. "Haley, feel free to join us." Brooke told her as she took Lucas' hand and walked out the café with him. _

_Nathan easily hinted on to what Brooke was trying to do. He was attracted to Haley, but he didn't know what she thought about him. She seemed like a sweet girl and Nathan didn't go for that, but there was something about Haley that was drawing him into her. _

"_So, you tutor?" Nathan had no clue what to ask Haley because he knew nothing about her or trying to know girls at all. He guessed that he probably seemed like a complete idiot in front of Haley._

"_Yeah, I love it. I bet that sounds lame." She chuckled. _

"_Not so much. I don't mean to be rude, but I wouldn't have guessed that you were a tutor."_

"_What do you mean?"_

_Nathan swallowed the lump that was forming in his throat. "I, uh, mean…" He couldn't figure out how to put the right words together from his thoughts. Nathan didn't want to offend Haley or anything. All he wanted to do was tell her how beautiful he thought she was._

"_You're nervous, too?" _

_Nathan scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah, I didn't think you would be able to tell. I guess I don't hide it as well as you can."_

"_Trust me, I'm having a difficult time." She paused. "When Brooke said that she told me about you, she really told me a lot about you. You're on our school's basketball team and you're the star player. You care about your friends like they were your family. You're…not too bad to look at," She smiled and then blushed. "That must freak you out a little bit that I know all that about you. There were times that I thought she had a crush on you until she told me that she was dating Lucas."_

_He couldn't help but smirk at her comment about what she said about him. It was apparent to him that Brooke had this planned out from the beginning. Sure, Brooke was excited about the holiday season, but she was more excited for Nathan to arrive. Brooke did know everything about Nathan, actually maybe even more than he did because he felt that she knew that he and Haley would hit things off. So far, Mastermind Brooke Davis was correct. _

"_Well, Lucas hasn't messaged me yet so I have time to know some things about you, unless you're not comfortable with this?" Nathan's arm shook as he rested it along the top of the booth._

_Haley searched for Karen to see if she had the café under control. The café was pretty much emptying out because the fireworks would be approaching. _

"_I don't mind. What kind of things did you want to know?"_

_Nathan shrugged. "How about a holiday memory, since it's Christmas and all?" _

"_Okay, I can do that. I was about five or six my family and I would go up to my uncle's cabin. I should warn you that I am one of seven children."_

"_Really?" Nathan asked incredulously. He was amazed to learn that and couldn't picture having six siblings, especially considering who his parents were. _

"_Yeah, anyway, the car ride was terrible because it took five hours to get there. Luckily, we'd go early enough to beat the traffic. My aunt and uncle own this huge cabin and all my relatives would get together for Christmas and New Years. It was always my favorite time of the year because there was so much to do there and there was never a dull moment with my family. We'd get to stay up late and sit by the fire and watch old Christmas classics until we'd fall asleep where we were sitting. In the morning we'd all sit down to this huge homemade breakfast and then we'd opened presents. I always got to go first because I was the youngest. After all that the guys would watch whatever football game was on while all the girls would do the dishes. I would play with all my toys and my brothers and sisters would run around playing in the snow."_

"_Why didn't you?" Nathan asked, feeling bad that he interrupted her story. She was getting really into it._

"_Oh, I always waited until the grown ups went outside, too, because our family had huge snowball fights. That's all we did until New Years Eve. That was the year that I finally was able to keep myself up past midnight." She finished with a sweet laugh. _

_Nathan let out a laugh. "It sounds like you had the perfect holidays. Why aren't you doing that this year?"_

_Her smile faded and Nathan cursed to himself that he struck a nerve in Haley. _

"_I didn't mean to..,"_

"_It's okay. You don't know that much about me." Tears welled up in her eyes. "My mother was diagnosed with cancer and with her chemotherapy we didn't think it was right to do all that traveling and be away from her doctor incase something were to happen to her. I was ten that year and after that it was just a hassle to get everybody together around the holidays because we all grew up."_

_Nathan wiped away the tear that slid down her cheek with his thumb. The tear moistened his skin. "I'm sorry, Haley."_

_She smiled through her tears, "What about you? What was your tradition?"_

"_Coming to the festival and watching the fireworks. That was until I was fourteen. We don't spend time together as a family anymore so I usually come with Lucas and Brooke Now that they're dating, I feel like I shouldn't be taking away their time." He shrugged like it wasn't a big deal, but it was._

"_I'm sure they don't feel that way."_

"_Yeah," Nathan felt himself getting lost in Haley's gaze. Her brown eyes didn't hold her emotions back. There was sadness and also a sense of comfort in them. At that moment Nathan wanted nothing more than to have her sorrow eyes drift slowly shut as he kissed her and open back up with the feeling that everything was going to be okay. _

_The moment was ruined for him when he heard his cell phone ring in his pocket. He checked it and saw that it was Lucas. "He found a spot and it's going to start in about five minutes." He closed his phone and put it back in his pocket._

"_Oh," Haley dropped her head and started to slide out of the booth._

_Nathan stopped her by grabbing her arm. "Haley, did you want to go with me? I know that you want to stay with Karen, but I'd really like if you were there with me. " _

_She broke into that smile that caused Nathan to immediately smile. "I was hoping that you would gain the courage to ask me. Let me grab my coat and I'll meet you by the front door. Don't worry about the bill." She walked away from the table with her smile beaming bright. _

_Nathan stood up and walked over to the door to wait for Haley. _

"_Thank you, Nathan." Karen walked over to Nathan. "I haven't seen a smile grace her face so much since she started working here. Plus, I just couldn't let her waste the night cooped up in here."_

_Nathan smiled._

"_Come to think of it, I haven't seen you smile so much either. I think there's something about the holidays that brings out joy in even the most broken of souls."_

"_Yeah?"_

_Karen nodded. "Have a good time and I hope that you and Haley both have a feeling that you've missed out on past Christmases." She gave him a hug and patted his back, "I may have overheard you two talking."_

_Nathan chuckled and lifted his head when he saw Haley walk back over to him. She wore a thin green jacket and a black scarf around her neck. _

"_You're getting your wish, Karen. If you need me at all just call Lucas." Haley told her._

"_No need. Just go. There's not enough time for us to continue to talk about nonsense." She rushed the two teens out of her café. _

_The two walked side by side until they saw the large crowd that gathered for the show. There was no way that they were going to find Brooke and Lucas or any of the others in the mob. _

"_I don't think we're going to have a chance to get close enough to the rail." Nathan commented. A part of him wanted to get up close so he could show Haley the boats that would sail on the water and have their lights reflect over the calm beach. _

"_You don't even want to try? I could pull the 'I'm short card' and get us a better spot." She offered. _

"_Really?" Nathan asked with amusement._

"_It works all the time." She offered her hand out to him._

"_If you say so." He took her hand in his. Her fingers fit perfectly within his Nathan focused more on the feeling of that contact rather than Haley snaking her way through the crowd. _

"_Here we are. I bet we got a better spot that Lucas and Brooke." She sent him a triumphant smile. _

_She was amazing to the point where Nathan didn't even know if Haley was real or not. He would probably end up staring at her face more than looking up to the sky. _

"_Merry Christmas to all the residents of Tree Hill! We hope you're all staying warm with your hot beverages or wrapped up in the arms of the one you love. Enjoy the show and your holidays!" The voice spoke over the speakers._

_Colorful bursts spread out over the black sky. The sight brought Nathan back to the time when he was younger. He would be astonished by the size and colors of each one. Then he would turn to his parents and point them out. They wouldn't be paying attention because they were lost in them themselves and in each other's embrace. _

_As Nathan watched the fireworks he felt a chilly breeze hit his cheek. He thought of Haley and looked down to see her hugging herself in order to stay warm. His fingers itched to have his arms wrap around her and pull her close. Nathan decided to just go for it and pray that Haley didn't jump from his touch or think that he was going too fast with her. The feeling of her curves fitting in his palms caused his fingers to stop trembling. Her face turned to look at him and the flashes of pigmented lights revealed her face. Haley's brown eyes looked almost black in the night. She rested her head against his chest as he pulled her against him. This was the moment that he always wished that he could have whenever he was around his friends. Now that he was able to have if, he didn't want to ever let go of her. _

_The show ended with the grand finale that made the entire town light up. When it was over everyone cheered and applauded. _

_Haley turned herself to face Nathan. His hands were interlocked as they rested on the small of her back. "That was amazing! I'm so glad that I decided to come see this. My family would have loved this. I know my mother would have." She wrapped her arms around Nathan. _

_Nathan's fingers grazed her back gently until Haley looked up to him. "Is that how it felt for you when you were younger?" Her eyes glistened._

_Nathan silently nodded. It felt differently this year and he wanted to tell her that, but he was always being interrupted._

"_There you two are! I told you I would find them." Nathan turned his head to see Brooke dragging Lucas over to where he and Haley were standing. He felt Haley's arms drop from him and he struggled with having to let her go as well. _

"_I see you made the right choice." Brooke eyed Haley. "Did you enjoy it?"_

_Haley nodded. "It was beautiful night to have this. I had a great time with Nathan."_

"_I bet." Brooke smiled. "We were thinking about heading to the café to say goodnight to Karen and then heading back to the river court. You two in?"_

_Nathan looked to Haley. _

"_I was wrong to pass up my first invite." _

"_Good. Let's make this quick before the entire town tries to stuff in Karen's." _

"_I meant what I said." Haley told Nathan when Brooke and Lucas left. "I also had a feeling that there was something you wanted to say before they came over." Haley gave him a knowing look._

_Nathan's nerves suddenly came back. "Honestly? I really wanted to tell you that I probably wouldn't have had that good of time if I wasn't introduced to you." _

"_I could say the same, but there was something else. I could see it in your eyes. You weren't watching the fireworks, Nathan."_

"_I wanted to…I wanted to…" He brought his hands up to cup her face. He leaned in and watched as Haley's eyelids began to flutter shut. His lips were on hers a few seconds later. _

_She wrapped her arms around his neck as she kissed him back. Her lips formed into smile when she heard Nathan moan against her lips. Haley had never really kissed a boy before and was surprised on the sensation she was able to give to Nathan. _

_The feeling of her warm lips against his made Nathan kiss her deeper. He kept his tongue to himself because this was the first night and kiss that he was able to share with her._

_When they pulled away the fog of their breath could be seen in the night. Smiles spread across their faces and hands intertwined as they walked over to the café. Haley rested her head against Nathan as they walked down the lit boardwalk, swaying her arm that firmly held his hand._

"_What took you two so long?" Brooke kinked her brow and put her hands on her hips when she saw them in the doorway._

"_Um," Nathan couldn't find a quick enough excuse so he looked over to Haley, who was flush in the face and biting her lip with a smile. _

"_You two kissed!" Brooke accused. "I so have a knack for hooking people up!"_

"_Brooke we…." Nathan started, but was cut off by the enthusiastic brunette. _

"_Don't start lying to me, Scott. Since I had to miss the first one, you two owe me a kiss and thank the love Gods that there is a mistletoe hanging over your heads." Brooke's eyes traveled up to the decorated doorway. _

_The blue eyes and the brown followed Brooke's hungry stare. Nathan squeezed Haley's hand to reassure her. Haley cocked her head to the side before getting up on her toes and bringing her lips to Nathan in a searing kiss._

_Even as the café cheered them on, Nathan was still able to hear Haley whisper, "Merry Christmas, Nathan." _

_._

_._

Nathan looked down to see that Jamie was sound asleep. He didn't know the exact moment that his tiredness took over his small body, but he got lost in his story. Nathan slowly maneuvered his son so he was resting his head on his pillow. Then he got off the bed and tried not to make any noise as he walked over to turn off his light.

"Merry Christmas, Jamie." Nathan whispered as he left the room and the door open with a crack left so he would be able to hear Jamie if he needed him.

He turned to walk into his own room when his wife standing in the hallway startled him. She was smiling and her eyes were glazed over with tears.

"How long were you standing there?" He crossed his arms over his chest in amusement.

"Since the part where Lucas told you that it was okay if you kissed him." She laughed in a hushed tone in order not to wake Jamie.

"Why didn't you come join us? We missed you all day." Nathan asked her while resting his hands on his wife's waist.

"I didn't want to interrupt. I didn't want you to know that I came home."

Nathan nodded and gave her a quick peck on the lips. "I'm glad you're back. Did you have a good time visiting your parents?"

She walked away from Nathan and headed towards their bedroom. She nodded. "They wished you and Jamie could have come with me. My parents send their love and some presents." She let out a sigh.

"What's wrong, baby?" Nathan asked her when they entered their room.

"I wished that I could have come back earlier and we could have taken Jamie to see the fireworks and have Christmases like you used to have. He's going to want to start doing that if you keep telling him that story."

"In my defense, he wouldn't let me leave until I told him the story." He chuckled and sat on the bed. "There's always next year, Hales."

Her lips formed her irresistible pout. "I know. It's just that I wanted to spend tonight with you and Jamie. He's at that age when he's going to have memories and I wanted this to be one of those things that he will always remember." She plopped herself down next to him.

Nathan wrapped his arm around, "Well there's always Christmas morning and remembering the delicious homemade breakfast that his mother made for him because she loves him so much."

"Yeah, I am a pretty kick ass cook." She let out a full laugh.

Nathan smiled at the sound of his wife's laugh. "You sure are."

"And don't you forget it, Mister." She poked him in the chest before resting her chin on his shoulder. "I love you, Nathan Scott. You know that?"

"I love you, too, Haley James Scott." He leaned over and kissed her.

There was no denying that Christmas was Nathan's favorite time of the year. There was a time where he felt like he had lost the joy that the holiday once brought him. Now, it was restored and even better than he had remembered it.

**The End.**

**AN: **I hope you all enjoyed this one shot and have a great holiday! I will be posting the next chapter of _Crash _on Friday.

Please review!


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